And the Winners Are

"Winning is only half of it. Having fun is the other half." (Bum Phillips)

Another book celebration comes to an end with winners picked and contacted. You all make my contests so much fun with your stories and comments. Thank you for taking the time to toss your names in my hat for the giveaway drawing. Some of you take part in every contest I post and I do appreciate that, because it wouldn't be much fun throwing a celebration party if nobody showed up. I always enjoyed reading the stories you share with me when I have a contest where I ask you to tell me a story for a change instead of the other way around. This time, most of you said you didn't have Valentine stories. That might prove that Valentine's Day is more important to the florists and the greeting card companies than to us average folks. But the stories I did hear from a few of you were fun and proved that it's not the size of the Valentines, but the love behind those Valentines that make the difference.

While you didn't have to share a story to win, it turns out that some of the winners did share Valentine stories. Deanna was the first place winner and wins the charm bracelet I know Jocie would have loved and a signed set of the Hollyhill books which include Scent of Lilacs, Orchard of Hope, and Summer of Joy. Deanna shares what made Valentine's Day fun for her and every day a good day. 

"I was blessed to receive roses from my husband, he is terrible about getting things over on me but he picked them out, brought them home and hid them from me to surprise me this a.m. while I was getting ready to go to work. Little things that we do for each other every day, not just certain days make things special. Asking if we would like to have something while the other one is up, getting the other's toothbrush ready, knowing I like a certain thing, making sure to get it or make a nice meal, all things that help in a relationship." 

Thanks, Deanna. Sounds like you and your husband have figured out how to have a great relationship. 

Now for the rest of the winners. Judy B won second place and gets the ring dish with the cute bike on it and that set of Hollyhill books. Cynthia B can't say she's never won anything from me before. She gets a box of candy and her pick of one of my books. She picked Small Town Girl. Those are the winners of the Summer of Joy Celebration Giveaway, but I also promised to pick two winners here on my blog. Winning a copy of their choice of one of my books is Gayle P and Noelle. I do so appreciate everyone of you who took time to leave comments on my posts here and join in with my giveaway fun. I love hearing from you and reading your comments and the stories you share. 

Noelle shared a story of love about her grandmother. 

"A love story did you say? Well, I thought about it for quite awhile and decided at least for me, there has never been such a love as my Granny's! 

Granny lost her true love not once, not twice but trice. The first involved leaving her country/continent for another and she could not choose between those she loved so she remained home. The second sadly died shortly before Mum was born and left Granny alone in her twenties to raise a child without any means. 

The third left her a widow at age 56 and she thought love was over for ever. Whilst on the coast, she met a scuba diver who asked her to watch his gear whilst diving. Thus begins my story...

I was still little and never knew how much developed from this relationship but I can tell you that's when my Dad asked Granny to take care of my sibling and myself. I do remember this scuba diver's visit though as he invited us kids to go to the sweet shoppe. We felt we had won the lottery of course and when the shoppe owner saw our rather extensive list of sweets, she said: "Now be sure to say thank you to Grandpa" to which we piped up "Oh, that's not Grandpa, just Granny's boyfriend!"

Another era with etiquette to be observed and such a thing frowned upon...But with love shining in her eyes,Granny bounced back and gave us a hug, shrugging her shoulders and just smiled.

Imagine our Mum's face when the story was told, I can tell you no one forgot this story soon!

One more thing: Granny chose not to accept the scuba diver's invitation to remain by his side for life, instead she raised us!

Love is a many splendored thing, is it not?

Love does come in many sizes and shapes, Noelle. Thanks for sharing your story with us. Your granny must have been quite a woman. 

Again, thanks to all of you for joining in with my giveaway fun. I hope you had fun too. Now to start thinking up some fun prizes for a June contest to celebrate Love Comes Home. And maybe I can think up a better subject to get you all talking. Any ideas?

Dime Store Valentines and Cupcakes

"Be Mine, Valentine." 
"I Woof You." 
"You're purr-fect, Valentine!" 
"You're doggone cute." 
"We're heart to heart friends."

I know Valentine's Day is past and it's 50 weeks before it shows up again. The candy's gone. The roses have drooped their heads. The cards are beginning to look like clutter. The diamonds are probably still glittering in the rings and necklaces if jewelry was in your Valentine box. But I'm not ready to let Valentine's Day slide away just yet. I tied in Valentine's Day with my Summer of Joy Celebration Giveaway. Two more days until I draw the winners. I'll announce them here on Sunday if all goes according to plan. 

But first let's enjoy a few Valentine stories. I didn't have a great response with the Valentine stories the way I have with other fun stories you've shared. Grandmother stories. Best or worst gift stories. Christmas gifts remembered. Those are some of the stories I've asked for in contests in the past. And I got story after story and loved it. But when I asked for Valentine stories, they came in few and far between. I'm not going to say romance is missing. Instead I'm going to go along with the reader who said she had plenty of Valentine stories but they were private. But a few of you did offer up some stories and I enjoyed reading them all. I shared some of them already and thought I'd let you enjoy a couple more tonight. 

First let me say that I didn't expect all the stories to be about romantic love and they weren't. Linda shares some fun Valentine school day memories. 

"My valentine story involves memories from childhood. I grew up in a similar small town like Jocie. In elementary school we would decorate shoe boxes with a slit in the top and on Valentine's day we would go around our classroom putting little Valentines in each box. I don't remember if we had to do one for everyone in the classroom, but hopefully that's the way it was so there would be no hurt feelings. Also, someone's mom would make cupcakes for our afternoon snack. Back in the day, life seemed so much simpler because decorating the boxes came from our imagination and what we had on hand and the little Valentines came from the 'dime' store."

Oh yes, Linda, I remember those Valentine parties. I had some myself when I was in school, but I best remember being the room mother for my kids and helping with their Valentine parties. I was that mama who made the cupcakes even if I wasn't great at decorating them. During my years of room mothering, Valentine's  was always my favorite party of the year. The kids did decorate shoe boxes and they did have ten-cent store Valentines for each child in their classes. I kept my oldest son's Valentine box for years. He made it out of a boot box. Guess he was expecting a lot of Valentines. I thought I still had it, but when I went to search for it to take a picture, I couldn't find it. Isn't that the way of it? You keep something for years and then you finally talk yourself into getting rid of it and a year or two later, you miss it. :)

And here's a cute idea from Amy to make any holiday fun for your kids or grandkids if you like to cook. She shared this here on a different post, but if you're like me, you don't always read through the comments. And if you did read the comments, hope you don't mind a repeat.

"I don't necessarily have many really memorable Valentine's days. I guess I lead a boring life. I do remember my Mom always making a fun dessert for us, and I've tried to carry this tradition on with my family. One year I took it a step further and created a special restaurant for my family. I made up menus and let everyone choose from two different entrees, their choice of salads and side dishes and choice of desserts. The kids loved it and requested the same experience for Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas dinner that year."

And you know what? Someday when somebody asks them to remember a special Valentine's day, that might be the very one they remember. What fun! Hope my grandkids don't read this. They'll be after me to give it a try. Maybe we'll have a go at it this summer for an everyday party time.

What desserts would you want on your Valentine party menu? I'll take cherry cheesecake or strawberries on a slice of Angel Food cake. Yum!

Thanks for reading and remember, you can leave a comment to be in a special drawing for a Hollyhill book or your choice of one of my other books. That's true over on Jocie's Heart of Hollyhill blog too. She's sharing another excerpt from Summer of Joy all about Wes's story about Bug Juice and Jupiterian Fropples. Wes has some great Jupiter stories. But to be in the drawing there or here, you have to leave a comment with a way for me to get in touch with you should you win.  

Thanks for reading!

 







 

"A Book Worth Reading"

"If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give." ~George MacDonald

Sometimes an encouraging word can be a special gift. I got one of those today from a reader who was reading my book, Scent of Lilacs. She said she was enjoying the story and then she thanked me for writing "a book worth reading." What a very nice thing to tell an author! 

Of course, I hope all my books are worth reading. I want to write them so that those of you who read them can get to know and love my characters the way I do while I'm writing their stories. With my Heart of Hollyhill books, I had fun going back to the Sixties and populating my fictional town of Hollyhill with characters who might walk down the streets of any small town in the USA. I stayed with those characters through three books and never got tired of them, Scent of Lilacs, Orchard of Hope, and now coming back to stores very soon in its bright new cover, Summer of Joy. 

But there are special gifts that are things too. Not long ago I received that kind of gift from my daughter-in-law. She got e-copies of all my covers even the old ones from years ago before there were e-copies of anything and made me the framed poster, pictured above, to hang in my office. Isn't it great? And such a thoughtful gift of her time and effort as she came up with a perfect gift for me. A writer has a special place in her heart for the cover art of her published books. Those covers are something bright and real with the promise of the story inside. The cover of Summer of Joy in the poster is not the new cover, but it's good to have that first cover remembered too. I'm so fortunate to have loving daughters-in-law who have blessed me with some beautiful grandchildren and who also encourage me in my writing career. 

One Week to Get Your Entries In

The deadline for my Summer of Joy Celebration Giveaway is Friday, February 28th at midnight EST. You can enter by sending me an e-mail from my website or here by leaving a comment. Comments on my posts here also enter you in a special additional drawing for a copy of your choice of one of my recent books. I don't have extra copies of those long ago books. The contest rules and description of prizes for the Celebration Giveaway are on my News & Events Website Page. Here's two of the prizes, a cute little ring dish and a charm bracelet with encouraging words all around. Plus those books that I do hope you will think are "worth reading." 

I also have that extra contest for people who say they "never win." I've gotten very few entries in that so maybe most of you are already winners. But one of you who tells me you never win is going to get a book and a box of chocolates. 

Remember, if you leave a comment here, you have to include a way for me to get in touch. A couple of you have commented without your contact information or even a name. If you don't want to leave that information in a comment here, feel free to e-mail me at annhgabhart(at)yahoo(dot)com or message me on my Facebook page. I know sometimes the comment feature on blogs can be a pain. Besides, you might enjoy joining in the conversation on my FB page. Some of my friends there enjoy my weekly features of Friday smiles, Throwback Thursdays, Shaker Wednesday, and Sunday Morning coming down.

A Book Worth Reading

That's what we all want when we're reading, don't we? A story that keeps us turning pages to find out what happens next. A story that we can be glad we read when we do turn that last page. A book that doesn't disappoint. Not every reader who picks up my books agree that my stories are worth reading, but I'm glad for those of you who do. And I will keep looking for the right words to fill the pages to make the stories you can enjoy. 

Thanks for reading!  

A Giveaway to Celebrate Summer of Joy

Celebration time! 

For a writer, there's not much more exciting than seeing a new book coming out for readers - even when that new book is simply one dressed up in a new cover. With the re-release of Summer of Joy, in a few weeks, my Heart of Hollyhill books will once more all be in print again and inviting readers to come back to the Sixties to visit Jocie and her family and friends.

Joy in the Journey
Some of you might remember the Sixties. Some of you might be too young for that. But isn't it great that books can take us to other times and places and let us experience "joy in the journey?" 

Life is a journey and you can travel through a year of life in Hollyhill with Jocie. Secrets are uncovered. Strangers show up. Joy is awakened. Troubles come. Love conquers. Life happens in this Small Town, America story. 

Celebration Prizes

And so I'm celebrating by having a giveaway with a few fun prizes. First prize winner will get that cute charm bracelet that Jocie might have picked out for you along with an autographed set of the Hollyhill books that includes Scent of Lilacs, Orchard of Hope and Summer of Joy. Second prize winner also wins a set of the Hollyhill books along with the ring dish with the bicycle and Joy in the Journey saying. (Jocie loves the bicycle.) And then there is the drawing for those of you who say you "never win." That prize is a box of chocolates and the winner's choice of one of my books. I've only gotten a couple of never win entries. Everybody must either be winners or on a diet! So be sure to tell me you've never won if you want to be in that drawing. And if you already have the Heart of Hollyhill books, it's fun to win books for a reading friend or perhaps your church library.

I also invited entrants to share a Valentine story of love. You don't have to tell a story to enter. You just have to send me a message at annhgabhart(at)yahoo(dot)com or leave a comment here (with a way to contact you) on my blog before midnight EST February 28, 2014. People who comment here will get one entry in the drawing for the prizes listed above, but I'll have a special extra drawing for my blog commenters with two winners getting their choice of one of my books. Each comment on a new post here on One Writer's Journal before the deadline will get you an extra entry in the blog drawing. I do appreciate those of you who drop by to visit me here. And of course, feel free to leave those Valentine stories. 

A Valentine Story 
Here's a cute story I received after I sent out news of the contest in my newsletter last week. R.M. said, "Back in 2001, one of my coworkers came in the office where I was working and said someone was there to see me. I was excited! Whoo hoo!! Flowers for Valentine's Day! Nope, lo and behold, a Barbershop Quartet!! Right there in the main corridor. They handed me a long stem red rose and sang "Let Me Call You Sweetheart"!!!!! That was the best Valentine's Day ever. Love was in the air!!!!
    Now, today I am picking up balloons as I already have the heart-shaped cake and cookies to have my granddaughters over for a Valentine's Day Party!!! Love is still in the air!!!"

I love R.M.'s enthusiasm for Valentine's Day love. Love is in the air in Summer of Joy too. So share some love whether about romantic love, family love or even the fun of all those little Valentines given away at school parties across the nation. "Be Mine, Valentine." "Yours till Ivory Soap Sinks." "Roses are red. Violets are blue. Sugar is sweet and so are you." What silly Valentine rhymes do you remember?  

Next Time
If you don't get my newsletter and would like to, be sure to let me know or sign up here on my FB author page. And come back Wednesday night or Thursday. Over on my Facebook author page, I'm getting suggestions for naming my heroine's dog in my work in progress. So far 89 different names have been suggested. I'll share those results next time on One Writer's Journal. 


Thanks for the Prayers
Last, but certainly not least, I very much appreciate all your prayers and concern for my mother. We had a rough week with taking her to the facility Monday and then spending a night in the ER after she fell on Wednesday, but today she seemed to be settling in. She even told one of the aides that we were her daughters and she knew my sister's name. Prayers are powerful and I thank you that you're willing to plug into that power for my mom.